Mourning
by Religion0
Summary: ""I LOST MY SISTER!" she roared, the full force of the Royal Canterlot Voice hitting them square in the face made all three stallions, intruder and guards alike, take a step back and wince fearfully. "I LOST HER FOR MY OWN SELFISHNESS AND YOUR IRRATIONAL DISLIKE OF THE NIGHT!"" /One-shot/genre and title subject to change/post Luna's banishment/credit to ponyphonic/


**This came from listening to ponyphonic's _Lullaby for a Princess_, which, if you're not familiar with it, you should go listen to right now. And then download.**

**This is my first MLP fic, so... I disclaim both ownership and the quality of this fic.**

Equestria was in a state of uproar. A sizeable part of Everfree City was in ruins, the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters consisted of holes more than it did walls, one of those sisters had caused a large part of the damage to both, that same sister was gone after having cast herself in the arms of madness with all the eagerness of a spurned lover, and no one had seen the remaining sister for several days.

Celestia had, wings hanging limply, muzzle brushing the ground, coat covered in dust, sweat and lesions, eyes glassy with tears, trudged slowly, blindly and often stumbling, to her room and closed the door behind her. She had opened it a few hours later at her assistant's insistent knocking and panicked calling, but only a sliver and only long enough to give some rudimentary instructions and information that sounded more than half-choked and were often interrupted by sobs.

That had been two weeks ago.

Two weeks with cold days and wane sunlight, two weeks with days and nights of irregular lengths as the sun would sometimes stall in its track or barely peek over the horizon before falling back below it as if it hadn't the energy, two weeks with nights dark as the grave that were clear of clouds but also of stars and moon, two weeks without a monarch, two weeks in which all of ponykind felt empty and lost, two weeks with no joy, two weeks of despair and half-hearted panic.

There was not even enough passion between all the ponies of the land to panic properly, or even to mourn.

Half of Equestria was struggling to move on with life in a world that had changed so drastically, and the other half was trying to get an audience with the Princess or at the least find out what had happened and what would happen now and what, if anything, anypony would do about the many problems, making it even harder for the council to do what the ponies wanted of them.

Especially with so many adamantly demanding an audience with none other than the Princess herself. Many of those who had been turned away formally had to be tossed out by the Royal Guard as they tried to sneak into the Sun Goddess' chambers.

And that's when one managed to get through the defences.

A particularly stubborn stallion had just barely managed to barge in through the door before the guards caught. "Princess Celestia!"he yelled the moment he was through. "I demand an audience!"

"**GET OUT**!"

The Royal Canterlot Voice, even muffled, was enough to stop both the intruder and the guards in their tracks, the guards dismally contemplating their failure and cursing their luck. Of course the one pony, and he would remain the one, to get through would be one with a dark blue coat nearly identical to that of the fallen princess.

"No, your Highness," the young stallion insisted stubbornly.

Of to one side of the room lay the Princess' regalia, tossed not so much carelessly as with despairing force, to the other hung a mirror, the glass splintered in the thousands, littering the floor like reflective snowflakes, and the frame cracked in two uneven parts, and straight ahead the Princess and newly-made sole ruler of Equestria lay curled up tightly on a rug before a cold fireplace stained dark with soot.

Her mane and tail was dishevelled and lacklustre, her coat still covered in dust, sweat, blood, soot and mud, her legs were curled close to her body, one wing lay cramped beneath her and the other stretched up to cover her head.

"Why not?" It was barely a whisper, and her voice cracked and creaked miserably. "Why can I not mourn my sister and my foolishness and the love she had to forego in peace? Why can I not be left to nurse my resentment of myself and my grief for what we caused my beloved little sister to feel? **LEAVE**!"

The anguish was not lost on the stallion, not entirely, and neither was the plural, but this did not stop him. "You have responsibilities, your Highness. How long are you going to abandon them to sulk in the dark?"

Celestia was on her hooves suddenly, spun to face the door, her expression a contorted mask of fury. Even covered in grime and with tear streaks staining her cheeks she was magnificent in her anger. "**I LOST MY SISTER**!" she roared, the full force of the Royal Canterlot Voice hitting them square in the face made all three stallions, intruder and guards alike, take a step back and wince fearfully. "**I LOST HER THROUGH MY OWN SELFISHNESS AND YOUR IRRATIONAL DISLIKE OF THE NIGHT**! _**I**_** PUNISHED HER BECAUSE SHE WANTED SOME ATTENTION AND **_**I**_** KEPT IGNORING HER**!** MY SISTER IS ON THE MOON BECAUSE **_**YOU**_** FEARED THE NIGHT**!"she shook, with fury and with rekindled tears. "You ponies of Equestria cost me my sister as much my blindness did," she said, the sudden waning in volume a shock to their ringing ears. "She just wanted the love that was her due, my beautiful little sister, she just wanted ponies to appreciate the richness of night as much as they do the light of day." Her head hung low, her muzzle barely brushing the floor at the end of the sentence. She looked up at her unwelcome guest for the first time proper since he entered and her head shot up, her face contorting into anguish too sharply for physical pain. "Get out," she whispered. Then: "**GET OUT**!** GET OUT**!** GET OUT**!** GET **_OUT_!_ GET OUT_!_ GET OUT_!_ GET_ _OUT_! GET OUT!" her voice had degenerated from the Royal Canterlot voice to a shriek at the end of the outburst, every muscle in her body clenched with distress and a painful attempt to twist away from the doorway without lying down or stepping back.

The guards, shaken from their horrified stupor grabbed a hold of the intruder's tail and dragged him from the room in a show of unprecedented force from the Royal Guards towards a citizen of Equestria.

As one guard dragged the stallion away, unnecessarily but happily clamping a spell on his muzzle to keep him silent, the other stayed behind. He took one look at the goddess who stood shivering with despair in a darkened room, her majestic head bowed low with tears leaking from the eyes he had only ever seen kindness and laughter in.

"I apologize, your Highness," he said, after a while and a settling swallow. "It won't happen again. I swear on my life no one shall enter till you have exited."

She opened her magenta eyes at the sound of his voice. Her eyes, brimming with tears and a pain he couldn't comprehend by half even should he want to imagine it. She nodded, slowly and half-heartedly, and turned to curl back up in her former position of misery. Just before closing the door the guard could have sworn he heard her sing, mournfully and low, barely a shadow of the voice he had heard at a variety of celebrations. "_Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine, And rest now in moonlight's embrace..._"

The door closed with a soft _thud_, leaving Celestia in a dark room that reeked of battle and mourning.

When she finally emerged, many weeks later, it was only for a few hours and the first thing she did was commission a new castle, a new city in fact, far away from Everfree.

…

**Please review to tell me what you liked/disliked, it would be much appreciated.**

**Edit: Although this really haven't enough views or been up long enough to warrant this note, I have made some severe changes since the original upload (which included the sun rising in the west rather than deciding to hit the snooze button and a misplaced attempt at humour) so... I like this better. Review!**


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